CCU Public Safety will soon have its own home
By Russell Alston
Carolina University’s Department of Public Safety is getting new home. The new Public Safety building will be located next to Student Counseling and Health Services, on University Boulevard near CCU’s U.S. 501 entrance. Preparation for the groundbreaking began during summer break, with water, sewer and communications lines already rerouted to the area. Construction is expected to begin this semester, with a completion date set for fall 2013.
With an estimated budget of $1.6 million, the 5,000-plus-square-foot building will have all the amenities and updated equipment you would expect of a police station, including a state-of-the art 911 dispatch center and an upgraded video surveillance center, located in the heart of the building. There will also be a lobby, training rooms and an information center to help individuals navigate campus.
“The building will be a home base for our officers, complete with locker rooms that include showers, so officers who have worked a long shift can clean up if they like,” says David Roper, chief of operations at Public Safety. “This office has never had its own building, so this will also serve as a morale boost for our officers while also increasing Public Safety’s visibility around campus.”
In addition, more than 200 new security cameras will be installed across campus, including increased surveillance of the Coastal Science Center and its surrounding area. Roper says the increase in security and surveillance is important in helping Public Safety maintain a vigilant eye on crime.
“Technology will be very important with the new building. These cameras will be installed in common areas, as well as areas of concern,” says Roper. “They shouldn’t be viewed as an invasion of privacy.
“For instance, we are making a more vigilant effort to pay more attention to unregistered guests in the dorms. Cameras are never placed inside dorm rooms, but on the outside of the buildings. The cameras that are placed outside of the dorms and surrounding areas help us keep a better watch on unregistered guests.”
Inadequate surveillance has long been a concern for Roper. “None of the security cameras were being optimized,” he says. One of the first things he did was to hire someone whose sole responsibility is to make sure the security cameras around campus are being used correctly.
“After a $300,000 investment in revamping the camera system, we now have one person who maintains camera positions for the 500 cameras placed around campus, as well as making sure they stay operational,” says Roper. “With the new building and the new surveillance system, we will be capable of virtually 24/7 video surveillance.”
When Roper accepted the job as chief of operations for CCU’s Public Safety office four years ago, he knew having a stand-alone Public Safety building would be an important addition.
“I look at CCU as a town, and as in most towns, everyone knows where the police station is,” says Roper. “The new Public Safety building will give us an identity, like a beacon of light.”
